Islamic Spirituality in Everyday Life among Young Muslims: Morality, Divine Love, and Self-Awareness from a Sufi Perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.66277/jiel.1.1.269Keywords:
Islamic Morality, Divine Love, Self-Awareness, Sufism; Islamic Law, Socio-Legal Studies.Abstract
This study examines Islamic spirituality in the everyday lives of Muslim youth by focusing on the interrelationship between akhlāq (moral conduct), maḥabbah (divine love), and self-awareness (murāqabah/muḥāsabah) within a Sufi perspective. The research is grounded in an epistemological tension between normative-textual approaches and lived religion, particularly in the context of modernity and digital transformation, which have reshaped patterns of religiosity among young Muslims. Using a qualitative approach with an interpretive ethnographic design, this study involves 20–25 participants selected purposively from university settings and digital religious communities. Data were collected through participant observation, in-depth interviews, and digital documentation, and analyzed using a thematic-reflective model. The findings reveal that Islamic spirituality among Muslim youth is not declining but undergoing fragmentation and reconfiguration. Akhlāq is often expressed in both substantive and performative forms influenced by digital visibility; maḥabbah emerges as a strong affective dimension but tends to be episodic; while self-awareness functions as the most stable and integrative mechanism that aligns ethical behavior with spiritual intentionality. These findings indicate a shift from integrated spirituality toward a more “modular” and disembodied form of religiosity. Theoretically, this study proposes the concept of embodied Sufi spirituality, which integrates tasawuf with Islamic anthropology by emphasizing spirituality as a lived, reflective, and practice-oriented process. This framework contributes to the development of a more contextual and practice-based approach to Qur’anic ethics and maqāṣidī tafsir. The study concludes that strengthening self-awareness is essential for reintegrating fragmented spiritual dimensions and fostering moral coherence among Muslim youth in the digital era.
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